Detroit Red Wings unable to keep up with Capitals late, lose, 3-1

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Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny skates with the puck against Red Wings left wing Justin Abdelkader during the second period of the Wings' 3-1 loss on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, in Washington. Nick Wass, AP

WASHINGTON — There was no rallying against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Detroit Red Wings had one of their better starts of the season on Friday at Capital One Arena, but they couldn’t overcome the damage done as the Washington Capitals scored two goals off the rush in the third period. The Wings ended up falling, 3-1, only their third loss in the last 12 games.

The Wings are in the midst of a stretch that sees them play teams ahead of them in the NHL standings – they beat Boston on Thanksgiving eve, fell in Washington, and host Buffalo on Saturday and Columbus on Monday.

Athanasiou & Vanek connect

Andreas Athanasiou and Thomas Vanek clicked pretty much instantly when they played together during Vanek’s first stint with the Wings in 2016-17. Their chemistry sparked a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, eight seconds after a Detroit power play had expired (their unit was still on the ice, they’re not on the same line five-on-five). Vanek got the puck behind Washington’s net and held onto the puck until he saw Athanasiou get into a good scoring position a few feet away from the left goal post. Vanek sent the puck to Athanasiou, who redirected it past Braden Holtby stick-side. It was Athanasiou’s third goal in the last two games and 10th of the season. It was Vanek’s 400th career assist.

The Capitals' Michal Kempny and Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou go after the puck during the first period on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, in Washington.(Photo: Will Newton, Getty Images)

Penalty problems

The Wings had to expect push back in the second period, and got it. They had to kill off back-to-back penalties, including a careless too-many-men one. That went well enough – Jonathan Bernier made a couple clutch saves and the Wings overall did a good job disrupting plays. But the Capitals, even with Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie injured, eventually were too much. The Wings’ lead was flattened at 12:13 when Tom Wilson got the puck inside Detroit’s zone and beat Bernier with a clean shot up the middle. All the time shorthanded meant little offense for the Wings, who were outshot, 8-4, in the second period, but still lead overall with an 18-13 edge in shots.

Capitals surge

The Wings had to rally to win five of their previous seven games. They faced having to attempt another comeback 6:38 into the third period when Michal Kempny blasted a shot that Bernier didn’t react to because he never saw it – he had Devante Smith-Pelly screening. The deficit grew to two goals two minutes later when Alex Ovechkin scored off a rush, skating into the right circle and driving a pass from Nic Dowd into Detroit’s net. Bernier was pulled with more than three minutes left in regulation. Mike Green had a shot go off a post as the Wings tried to rally.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.